Paul Bethel

[John Simkin]

Paul Bethel joined the United States Army and served in Germany at the same time as William Harvey, the Central Intelligence Agency chief of station in Berlin. Later he served as press officer in Tokyo. By 1959 he was head of the U.S. Information Agency in Cuba. He married a Cuban woman and during this time developed a close friendship with CIA agent, David Atlee Phillips. The two men became members of the same theatre group in Havana.

When Fidel Castro took control in Cuba, Bethel moved to Miami where he worked closely with anti-Castro exiles including Alpha 66. Bethel also formed the Citizens Committee to Free Cuba. Daniel James became the executive secretary. Other members included Clare Booth Luce, William Pawley, Virginia Prewett and Ernest Cuneo.

A passionate right-winger, Bethel, a friend of William F. Buckley, wrote for his National Review. He was also editor of the Latin American Report. In 1969 Bethel published The Losers. In the book Bethel argued that John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King might have been active or tacit Communist agents.

In 1976 Antonio Veciana was interviewed by Gaeton Fonzi of the House Select Committee on Assassinations. The founder of the anti-Castro organization, Alpha 66, he told the committee about his relationship with his Central Intelligence Agency contact, Maurice Bishop. He claimed that in August, 1963, he saw Bishop and Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas. Veciana admitted that Bishop had organized and funded the Alpha 66 attacks on the Soviet ships docked in Cuba in 1963.

Veciana explained the policy: "It was my case officer, Maurice Bishop, who had the idea to attack the Soviet ships. The intention was to cause trouble between Kennedy and Russia. Bishop believed that Kennedy and Khrushchev had made a secret agreement that the USA would do nothing more to help in the fight against Castro. Bishop felt - he told me many times - that President Kennedy was a man without experience surrounded by a group of young men who were also inexperienced with mistaken ideas on how to manage this country. He said you had to put Kennedy against the wall in order to force him to make decisions that would remove Castro's regime."

At first Gaeton Fonzi believed that Maurice Bishop was really Paul Bethel. This was denied by Antonio Veciana who said he knew Bethel. According to Veciana, Bishop sent him to meet Bethel in Miami. Later Fonzi became convinced that Bishop was Bethel's friend, David Atlee Phillips.

Does anyone know if Paul Bethel is still alive?

[James Richards]

In 1964, Bethel penned a very interesting piece titled, "Terror and Resistance in Communist Cuba". It can be found amongst the papers of Robert Hill at Dartmouth College.

Bethel did have some curious associations including Evelio Duque and one Jorge Volsky. Volsky reported to a man he knew as Dr. Manuel Mendez aka David Morales. As stated before, I believe Volsky was the one who facilitated the Sylvia Odio visit.

James

[Francesca Akhtar]

Anyone know if he is related to a Charles E. Bethel Jr?

[Duke Lane]

... Does anyone know if Paul Bethel is still alive?

Get ahold of Gordon Winslow, he'd know if anyone would.

[Wim Dankbaar]

It would be nice to know if Bethel is still alive.

Joe Goulden was a similar friend of Phillips. He is still alive.

Wim

[John Simkin]

It has an interesting lineup of members.

CHERNE, LEO. EXEC COMMITTEE

Who Oswald wrote to from USSR

CUNEO, ERNEST. MEMBER

Who owned the North American Newspaper Alliance and employed Ian Fleming and Priscilla Johnson

HENDRIX, HAL. MEMBER

Who Seth Kantor called from Dallas, a record censored by the CIA

LUCE, CLAIRE BOOTHE.

Who financed anti-Castro Cuban maritime raiders out of JMWAVE

PREWETT, VIRGINIA.

who worked for Cuneo at NANA and knew David A. Phillips and "Maurice Bishop"

They also produced Wm Gaudet's Latin American Report out of New Orleans Trade Mart,

jfk.hood.edu/Collection/Weisberg Subject Index Files/L Disk/Latin American Report/Item 05.pdf

Records are at Hoover Institute (where Dimitri DeMohrenschildt worked)

Preliminary Inventory to the Citizens Committee for a Free Cuba Records, 1962-1974.

CITIZENS COMMITTEE for a FREE CUBA (1964)

CITIZENS COMMITTEE

for a FREE CUBA (1964)

REFERENCE: Pamphlet:

TERROR AND RESISTANCE IN COMMUNIST CUBA

by Paul Bethel.

Citizens Committee for a Free Cuba. 1964. (frontpiece)

1426 G Street, N.W., Washington, D.C.

ARENSBERG, MARIADA. MEMBER

BARLOW, WILLIAM. CHAIRMAN EXEC COMMITTEE

BARON, MURRAY. EXEC COMMITTEE

BETHEL, PAUL. EXECSECRETARY [bETHEL, PAUL D. Residence: Miami Shores FL. Wife Clara.

Exec Sec Citizens Committee for a Free Cuba.

Ref: 1965 Miami CityDirectory]

BIDDLE, NICHOLAS DUKE. MEMBER

BIERNE, JOSEPH. MEMBER

BROWN, IRVING. MEMBER

BURKE, ARLEIGH A., ADMIRAL. VICE CHAIRMAN OF EXEC COMMITTEE

CHAPELLE, DICKEY. MEMBER

CHERNE, LEO. EXEC COMMITTEE

CUNEO, ERNEST. MEMBER

EMMET, CHRISTOPHER. MEMBER

FITZGIBBON, RUSSELL H. DR. MEMBER

FIWHER, JOHN. MEMBER

GIDEONSE, HARRY, DR. MEMBER

HENDRIX, HAL. MEMBER

HOFFMAN, SAL B. MEMBER

HOOK, SIDNEY, DR. MEMBER

HOWLEY, FRANK L. BRIG GEN. MEMBER

KANTOR, HARRY, DR. MEMBER

LUCE, CLAIRE BOOTHE. EXEC COMMITTEE

LYONS, EUGENE. MEMBER

MARSHALL, S. L. A., BRIG GEN. CHAIRMAN

MAYERS, HENRY. MEMBER

McDOWELL, ARTHUR G. MEMBER

McLAURIN, BENJAMIN F. EXEC COMMITTEE

MORGENTHAU, HANS J., DR. MEMBER

MOWRER, EDGAR ANSEL. EXEC COMMITTEE

O'ROURKE, JOHN. MEMBER

OVERSTREET, BONARO. MEMBER

PIKE, JAMES A., BISHOP. MEMBER

PREWETT, VIRGINIA. MEMBER

RIESEL, VICTOR. MEMBER

ROCHE, JOHN P. MEMBER

STRAUSZ- HUPE, ROBERT, DR. MEMBER

TANNENBAUM, FRANK, DR. VICE CHAIRMAN & EXEC COMMITTEE

TELLER, EDWARD. MEMBER

WELLBORN, CHARLES. VICE ADM, JR. MEMBER

WHITAKER, ARTHUR P. DR. MEMBER